Heat exchange apparatus



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Patented June 5, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HEAT EXCHANGE APPARATUS Karl Fehrmann, Dortmund, Germany Application January 5, 1933, serial No. 650,354

In Germany January 7, 1932 8 Claims.

I have filed applications .in Germany on the 7th January, 1932; 5th and 6th February, 1932; 27th July, 1932; and 1st August, 1932; and in Great Britain on the 31st October, 1932.

'I'he invention relates to apparatus of the plate type for the heating and cooling of liquids such as milk, wort, beer and the like.

In apparatus of this type alternate ribbed platesand smooth cover plates are so pressed against each other as to produce between the plates conduits for the passage of a fluid.,

The object of the invention is to provide an improved construction of such heat exchange vapparatus which consists in the combination oi.' a base plate, a continuous, seamless, sinuously slotted layer of resilient material, and a cover plate, the slotted resilient material together with the two plates forming conduits for the passage of a fluid. The improved construction enables conduits of a very smooth flow-line to be produced in a cheap and very effective manner.

The accompanying drawings show by way of example several constructions embodying the features of the invention.

Figs. 1 and 2 show thefirst construction, Fig. 1 is a top view of the ribbed plate and Fig. 2 is a cross section on line II-II- of Fig. 1.

Figs. 3 and 4 show the second construction,

Fig. 3 being a top view of the ribbed plate and' Fig. 4 a cross section of the ribbed plate and two cover plates on line IV-IV of Fig. 3.

struction in which distance bolts are located in re- Fig. 5 shows the third construction in cross section.

Fig. 6 shows in plan a basekplate' formed with holes.

Fig. '7 shows in cross section a fourth construction in which resilient layer materials on both sides of a base plate are connected by casting or moulding.

Fig. 8 shows in cross section a further construction in which the' base plate is provided with screws or rivets.

Fig. 9 shows in cross section a construction in which the resilient layer is reinforced by sieve-like wire.

Fig. 10 shows in cross section a further concesses of the resilient layer.

Figs. 11 to 13 show a further construction, Fig. 1l is a top view of a ribbed plate provided at the periphery with a distance member.y

Fig. 12 is a cross section corresponding to Fig.

l11 showing several plates and distance pieces.

protuberances and laterally bounds and tightly closes the flow conduits d. The layer to be applied consists preferably of rubber, but soft metal, for instance lead, is also suitable, 'I'he rubber layer may, in all cases, be vulcanized to the base p1ate. In order that the applied layer should have a good mechanical connection with the base plate g, it may, according to Figs. 6 to 10, be connected thereto by special means. e indicates an inlet or outlet opening. b, b are smooth cover plates.

The construction shown inFigs. 3 ,and 4 diifers from that shown in Figs. 1 and 2, in that the plates are circular and the flow conduits d are a different shape.

According to Figs. 6 and 7, the base disc y is provided at a certain distance with circular or elongated holes h which are iilled with layer material, for instance, by casting or moulding the layer c, so that the ribs formed on both sides are well connected together. By this means, the lateral thrust of the liquid, particularly against the rib-like protuberances at the outer edge is securely taken up.

According to Fig. 8, the base disc g is provided with screws or rivets i, the bead-like heads of the rivets being embedded in the applied layer.

In Fig. 9 the layer c is reinforced by sieve-like wire insertions k which are themselves connected with the base dise gvby pins i.

f The intimate connection of the layer with the base disc g as shown by way oi'example in Figs. 6 to 9, also enables the layer to be applied on one side only of the base if required. Plates having one-sided layers may be used without 1ntervening or cover plates b, whilst plates having a double layer must be separated byea smooth separating plate b.

If a plate made of soft metal is used as the resilient layer, it may be connected with the base disc in known manner by soldering, welding, riveting or'screwing.

The continuous layer enables very favourable flow conduits to be obtained, as, for instance, shown in Figs.- 1 and 3 in connection with plates of rectangular'and circular shape.

If particularly deep flow conduits are required, they may be partly let into the base disc g so that the layer c of yielding material forms only a covering and smoothing layer upon the projecting portions of the base disc g, as shown in Fig. 5.

With heat exchange apparatus of the kind according to the invention, it is necessary to limit the degree of compression of the resilient layer or layers c. If the degree of compression were not limited unskilled manipulation or fitting of the apparatus might result in the conduits d becoming too narrow or having dierent cross sections upon diilerent sides of the plates owing to excessive or non-uniform compression of the individual layers.

In order to avoid this drawback, the degree of compression of the yielding layer of the ribbed plates according to the invention, is limited by providing between the individual plates solid distance members. Ribbed plates provided with such distance members are shown in Figs. 10 to 13.

Fig. 10 shows two ribbed plates c, g, c co-operating on both sides with smooth separating or cover plates b. The upper ribbed plate, accord-A ing to Fig. 10, is shown in the position which the plate assumes upon the smooth separating plates b being applied loosely to the resilient layers applied to the base disc g. The lower ribbed plate is shown in the position corresponding to the smooth plates b being pressed against the ribbed plate.

It will be seen that the vertical dimension a: of the conduit d is reduced to y upon a sufcient pressure being exerted upon the` ribbed plate, the measure of reduction being proportionate to the pressure used.

According to Fig. l0, distance members or bolts m are xed to the solid base plate g of the l ribbed plate either by screwing or riveting into a sleeve p. The distance bolts are located in recesses o of the resilient layer c. Upon the plates being pressedtogether, the vertical dimension of the conduit d cannot be reduced to less than the magnitude y, the actual reduction depending upon the force of compression used. It will thus be seen that the compression is limited by the-height of the bolt m or the sleeve p. Obviously, the compression of the resilient ylayers c must be sufficient to insure tightness relatively to the smooth separating plates b. Conse-a, quently the'height of the distance membermust'. be suitably dimensioned having regard tothe This conditionv can be easily fullled even with varying 'operatev ing conditions, by providing distance boltsgfoi, different heights which can be easily exchanged.. In Fig. 10 the lower distance bolt m is riveted to the sleeve p, whilst the upper distance bolt}m nature of the resilient layer.

struction provides for easy exchange in case .of

need. Another point to be taken into account is the fact that the edges of the resilient layer cmust have sufficient room to expand laterally upon compression. lOther means for determining the distance of the separating plates or the compression ofthe resilient layer may, of course, be used. It is not essential that the distance members be xed to the base disc or plate g of the ribbed plate. They may, if preferred, be connected to the covering or separating plates b at suitable points. The distance members should be distributed in such numbers and in such a manner upon the plates as to insure a uniform distance of the plates from each other upon a certain maximum pressure being attained.

The invention is also applicable to plates which are provided on one side only with a resilient layer and are smooth upon the other side. In this case separate cover plates are not required at all, inasmuch as the base of one ribbed plate forms at the same time the cover of the adja-V cent plate. Consequently the apparatus may be made up of plates 'ribbed on one side only following each other directly.

A further construction of a distance member is shown in Figs. 11 to 13, Fig. 11 shows a corner piece of a ribbed plate with a modied distance member 1 in plan. Fig, 12 shows three such ribbed plates g with two interposed smooth plates b, the central plate and the inner sides of the two outer plates being shown in compressed condition, whilst the outer sides of the outer plates are shown in uncompressed condition.

Fig. 13 shows the distance piece in section, in the position'it assumes when slid upon the solid base plate g. The base plate g is covered with the resilient layer c which is provided at any desired number of points of its periphery with recesses which are so shaped as to enable clamplike distance pieces 1 to be slid over the base plate g to t the recesses. In order to x the distance members to the base plate g, the distance members are provided with a threaded bore 2 into which a screw 3 may be inserted. The base plate g is at this point suitably perforated. The thickness y1 of the distance piece 1 is made slightly less than the thickness x1 of the plate and applied layers, the diierence between :ci and J1 corresponding to the magnitude of the required compression of the resilient layers. This very simple construction of the distance members makes rapid exchange of the members very easy should, after long use of the plates, the necessity arise to increase the measure of compression of the resilient layer. In that case it is only necessary to remove the screw 3 in order to take olf the distance piece l from the base plate g. In some cases it is suiicient to reduce the thickness of the distance piece 1 by a few strokes with a le in order to obtain the necessary adjustment and it is therefore not even necessary to substitute ja new distance piece.

I claim:

.,11.. Inlieat exchange apparatus of the plate type, the' combination of: a base plate; a continuous,

v, seamless fsinuously-slotted layer of resilient maxterial; "a cover plate, the resilient material togetherl with the two plates forming conduits for the passage of a uid, substantially as described.`

2. In'.Y heatA .exchange apparatus of the plate type, thai-combination of: a base plate; a continuous,1'sea mless sinuously-slotted layer of resilient material secured to said base plate; and a cover plate, the resilient material together with the two plates forming conduits for the passage of a fluid, substantially as described.

3. In heat exchange apparatus of the plate type, the combination of: a base plate; a continuous, seamless sinuously-slotted layer of resilient material; a cover plate; said base plate having holes and said resilient layer having prop jections engaging said holes, the resilient material together with the two plates forming conduits for the passage of a fluid, substantially as described.

4. In heat exchange apparatus of the plate type, the combination of a base plate; a continuous, seamless sinuously-slotted layer of resilient material; a cover plate, said-base plate and said resilient layer being connected by members pinned into the Vbase plate, the resilient material together with the two plates forming conduits for the passage of a fluid, substantially as described. 1

5. In heat exchange apparatuspof the plate type, the combination of: a base plate; a `continuous, seamless sinuously-slotted layer of resilient material; a cover plate, said resilient layer being reinforced by metal insertions, said insertions beingsecured by means of pins, the resilient material together with the two plates forming conduits for the passage of a fluid, substantially as described.`

6. In heat exchange apparatus of the plate type, the combination of: a base plate; a continuous, seamlesssinuously-slotted layer of resilient material; a cover plate; and distance members limiting the compression of the resilient layer upon assembly, the resilient material together with the two plates forming conduits for the passage of a iluid, substantially as described.

7. In -heat exchange apparatus of the plate type, the combination of: a base plate; a continuous, seamless sinuouslyslotted layer of resilient material; a cover plate; and distance members limiting the compression of the resilient layer upon assembly, said distance members comprising cylindrical bolts with sleeves, the resilient material together with the two plates forming conduits for the passage of a fluid, substantially as 

